I BELIEVE // Tomomi Kahala
Lyrics & Music: Tetsuya Komuro
The beginnings of this shimmering white love affair
Lie in the faraway distant past
Anytime I believe your smile
No matter what, I was searching for your smile
Anytime believe your love
I've long been watching you
I am sure of it
Give me a Chance! Give me a Jump!
This is a fight for the future!
Give you a Speed! Give you a Power!
USE an impertinent air once in a while!
The city was frozen over
I hated the cold nights
There were days when I honestly
Wanted just a little of your warmth
Instead of talking about love
How much love?
How many dreams?
So many I couldn't contain them all
And shouted to the skies
You soar through the starry nights
And run through the snowy streets
I just wanna believe in you
Anytime I believe your smile
I recall vestiges of your figure
Tracing the phantoms of my feelings
Anytime I believe your love
I was chasing after you
I am sure of it
Give me a Luck! Give me a Start!
Now is the time to put this ambition to the test!
Give me a Pride! Give me a Dream!
I won't fall into playing dirty
I'll conduct myself with grace
When I unlock the door to my one-room apartment
I am assailed by loneliness
There were nights when I honestly just
Wanted to lean on you instead of
Pushing love onward
The beginnings of this shimmering white love affair
Lie in the faraway distant past
Anytime I believe your smile
No matter what, I was searching for your smile
Anytime believe your love
I've long been watching you
I am sure of it
Moonlight Sweetheart (A Love Before Time Mandarin Version)
Performed by Coco Lee
Lyrics: Yi "Kevin" Jia Yang
Music: Jorge Calandrelli
Translation: Donny
My Japanese was helped along quite a lot by my interest in pop music and song lyrics. Someday, I would also like to become proficient in Mandarin Chinese. Well, the first step is this song, I guess, which was the theme for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," a wuxia film by Ang Lee from 2000. It was sung by Coco Lee in English under the title "A Love before Time." However, the lyrics are totally different, though beautiful in their own way.
This song came to mind today when I was reading through some literature on transformational learning; don't ask why as I don't have the foggiest. Anyway, I came across the original Chinese promotional video (music clip) on YouTube and decided to try translating it. Chinese has a complex system of aspect and prepositional markers, so some of it is probably not in the right aspect, but I think the meaning is accurate.
Have a listen and enjoy the lyrics in English!
大衆音楽や歌詞の英訳を大の趣味として、日本語を独学しました。いつか、中国語も思うように操れるようになりたいと夢見ています。その第一歩として以下の歌詞を英訳してみました。2000年配給のAng Lee監督による「グリーン・デスティニー」の主題歌です。この曲はココ・リー（李玟）が歌手を務め、英語圏でも彼女によるA Love before Timeとして広く知られています。当時のアカデミー賞の舞台で完璧なパフォーマンスを披露し、絶賛を博しています。
I awaken from slumber to find myself
In the moonlight
The waning moon brings you to mind
I don't want to wake up
Who can understand this?
I fear that when my eyes open, you will not be there
This lover's heart, sunken deep into the sea
Take me to where it lies in search of it
Please love me for 10,000 years
Love me from your heart for always
Love is a gift of the moonlight
I await the epistle of the angels,
Telling me you love me
For love's sake,
I would gladly slumber without waking
Eternity... Does such a thing exist?
Blame this heart of mine for being
Unable to let go
Oh, North Star, carry me away
Do not hide away from me
Seek out this love
Oh, I love you
I wait for you every night
Waiting for you
For love's sake, this heart of mine
Would lie in slumber in the moon's ocean
So lonely, whom do I miss?
Who can understand?
I shed tears in the moonlight
It is also in the moonlight I slumber
With no regrets
Waiting for a true-hearted person
To awaken me with a kiss
I lie in dreamy slumber all day
I lie in recollection all year
Say that you love me
For love's sake,
I would gladly slumber without waking
Boys & Girls // hamasaki ayumi
Lyrics: ayumi hamasaki
We've begun to shine
And who can stop us?
Who had the right to stop the boys
Who took off in flight?
I always seem to be saying
I always seem to be dreaming about
We always seem to be talking about
Wanting to be happy
How many times does that make it?
I can't say
Even if you ask me
What I really want
What I'm really unsatisfied with
What I'm really aiming for
I don't have any answers
When you push me on,
Please do not forget the promise
We exchanged just this summer
We've begun to shine
And I am sure that we will find our tomorrow someday
The girls who have taken off in flight
Are sure to find a shining tomorrow
The truth is, I have my expectations
The truth is, I have my doubts
Just like anybody else
You say I'm a "good person"
But it sounds "someone I don't really care about"
The glow of dawn was dazzling
It stung my eyes
I felt a pain in my chest
I was a little uncertain
We've begun to shine
And who can stop us?
Who had the right to stop the boys
Who took off in flight?
I'll try and convey to you
Just how your childlike
Smile is reflected so well
In the hush of winter
We have quieted our breathing
Beneath this streetlight
If this is a tiny universe here
I am sure it belongs to we two
The spell on this neverending world
Is bound to be broken soon, and so...
Oh, branches of amber
Bind together this frayed warmth of ours
Oh, silver stallion
Gallop along my chilled flesh this eve
Gallop on and on
Why is it I weep at sincerity
When I am the one who says, in jest,
I long to be free?
Snow drifts to pile up deep in the valley
Oh, amber snow
The passing time paints the snow crystals
But even these are overtaken by rapid melting
Let's run away together
The feathers of the low-flying owl
Bear your feelings with a tiny snowy breeze
As you embrace me tightly and do not let go
Oh, star of amber
Encircle this fragile speed of ours
Oh, slumbering fairies
Awake, awake beneath the frost
I'm afraid to stand alone,
So why must you...?
The valley becomes deeply transparent
Oh, trees of amber
When the spring comes,
And it's still a long way off,
This will be but a cold dream of us
Yes, a tender dream of ours, yours and mine
Oh, branches of amber
Bind together this frayed warmth of ours
Oh, silver stallion
Gallop along my chilled flesh this eve
Gallop on and on
Why is it I weep at sincerity
When I am the one who says, in jest,
I long to be free?
Snow drifts to pile up deep in the valley
Oh, amber snow
On this long, long night
I search for the light of dawn
I search for you
Don't blame yourself so
Everyone has lonely nights
In this city where
Even our sighs
Are drowned out in the noise
Every time you get hurt
You're sure to become more gentle
I believe because I have resolute dreams
I'll meet Love & Friends on this path
It won't always be like this
It's my life
Wipe away your tears
[1] Yes! Carry on my way
Carry On my dreams
Tomorrow, the sky's gonna clear up
Yes Yes Let's start again Woo
Let's move again
Come on, let's reach out for it and go Woo
It doesn't matter if the tears won't stop coming
So long as we keep on living without losing
Our true identity
So Carry On
Even at times when it feels like we're failing
Rushing through this life
In this country where we can't even see a future
Don't lose your soul to someone in this city
You have to treasure your one and only self
Setting off on the journey is always lonely, bye my love
But I can't possibly stay here without you
It can't end like this--I know It's My Life
Let's get going
[2] Yes! Carry On my way
Carry On my dreams
We can do it over
Yes! Yes! Let's start again Woo
Let's move again
Now then, let's show some pride Woo...
Off to that place where that faint ray of hope shines
We just need to start again today
So Carry On
Repeat [1]
Repeat [2]
Carry On Carry On Carry On my way
Yes! Yes! Carry On Carry On
Let's move again...
a theme of a-nation '03 // hamasaki ayumi
Lyrics: ayumi hamasaki
Music: CREA (nom de plume of Ayumi Hamasaki)
I remember yet
Those summer festivals of yesteryear
We used to attend so often
I held fast to your hand
So as not to get separated
In the throngs of people
Everything glittered brilliantly
I wasn't afraid of anything
In those days when we just chased after
Our beautiful dreams
The breeze that flows through
Is far too gentle to me
Overcome with emotion,
Tears stream down my cheeks
We feel nostalgic for those times
Because they have come and gone now
No matter how sad things are now,
Someday, I'll be able to talk about it
With a smile on my face
We grew up, losing things on the way
But now there is someone here with me
Whom I wouldn't trade for anyone else
In the whole world
The breeze that blew by was somehow
Too gentle to me
I'll be loving you still
At this time tomorrow
Treasure it well
So as not to have regrets later
For moments are irreplaceable
Do not forget: Pray as we might,
The present moment
Will never come home to us again
There's really no such thing as forever
I wonder just when I realized that
And yet I am prouder than anyone that
Our days together were genuine
The length of time we have lived
Is slightly different, you and me
But just having met
Just having loved you
Even if we cannot feel the same way
About each other
la la la-i
I won't forget
It's funny:
Why there's no one else I want but you
No one else I want to stay by my side
Even though it hurts so bad
And yet I have come to the point where
I can feel so good about even the little
Trifling things that don't seem so important
Even the tritest of phrases take on meaning
When they pass our lips between we two
But just having met
Just having loved you
The fact we could feel the same way
For one another
Now and forever
I won't turn my eyes away
From reality, from truth
I see it as proof that I have lived my life
just having met
Just having loved you
Even if we should never meet again
la la la-i
I won't forget
The trek was a long one
Freezing, I closed my eyes
WOW WOW WOW...
WOW WOW WOW....
How many thoughts of you must I gather together
What words must I put down together
In order for these feelings to get through?
I'm sure nobody can say
But please tell him this for me:
I have the strength to trust you unwaveringly
The trek was a long one
Freezing, I closed my eyes
The season I was so looking forward to
Passes by without anyone's noticing
WOW WOW WOW...
WOW WOW WOW....
If I do what I should here and now
And feel the calm overtake me
I should smile
The trek was a long one
Just a little further and
I can bathe in the warm sunlight
Truth is: I just don't want to give in
To stifling my emotions
The trek was a long one
Just a little further and
I can bathe in the warm sunlight
If I say the time I spent apart from you
Wasn't lonely, it's a lie
WOW WOW WOW...
WOW WOW WOW....
But please tell him this for me:
Near or far, I am always right beside you
It was long alright
Just a little farther
I wanna bathe in the warm sunlight
Truth is: I just don't want to give in
To stifling my emotions
It was long alright
Just a little farther
I wanna bathe in the warm sunlight
